HONOLULU — The Hawai'i soccer team delivered a dominant performance to secure its first-ever Mountain West home victory, shutting out Nevada 3-0 on Wednesday afternoon at the UH Lower Campus Field.
The victory extended the Rainbow Wahine's home unbeaten streak to five matches and improved Hawai'i to 5-4-1 overall and 2-1-0 in conference play.
Hawai'i took control from the opening kickoff, applying persistent attacking pressure and outshooting the Wolf Pack 12-1 in the first half while earning five corner kicks. The breakthrough came just moments before the intermission at the 44:22 mark, when junior defender
Piper Bertani scored her first career collegiate goal by heading home a corner kick from senior
Tatum Porter to give the Bows a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
The Rainbow Wahine carried their momentum directly into the second frame, controlling possession and piling on an overwhelming 16-1 advantage in corner kicks on the night. In the 67th minute (66:15), freshman forward
Olivia Dianda doubled the Hawai'i cushion by shaking a defender and scoring off her left foot at the far post off an assist from
Rori Gartner.
Gartner orchestrated another scoring play in the 84th minute (83:34), picking up her second assist of the day as junior defender
Laule'a Ah Mook Sang found the back of the net off another corner kick to record her first goal of the year and seal the 3-0 result. Hawai'i finished the contest outshooting Nevada 23-4 overall and holding an 8-2 advantage in shots on target.
Defensively, junior goalkeeper
Kennedy Justin turned aside both shots on goal she faced over 90 minutes of action to record her fifth clean sheet of the season. Anchored by senior midfielder
Izzy Ayala playing the full 90 minutes, the Hawai'i backline held the Wolf Pack to just one shot attempt in the opening 45 minutes and conceded zero corner kicks during the second half.
The Rainbow Wahine will look to continue their home momentum on Sunday when they host UTEP at the UH Lower Campus Field with kickoff set for 3:00 p.m. HT.
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